After a huge waiting period, “Resident Evil 7: Biohazard” is finally out on Steam for everyone to enjoy. Gamers immediately flooded the gates to download the release and check out what it had to offer, and forums went quiet for a couple of hours following the announcement.
When gamers came back to comment, most of what they had to say was positive. In fact, many were apparently surprised by what the game had to offer, as they didn’t expect it to go that deep in some of its gameplay elements and story developments. At the same time, some gamers were unhappy with what they perceived as a short campaign duration.
Reports about the length of the game vary, but most gamers claim that it can be easily completed in under 10 hours. Some speedrunners have apparently already managed to go through it in less than a couple of hours, though of course this is not indicative of the experience the average gamer is going to have.
In terms of gameplay, everything seems to be more or less perfect with this title. The quality of the horror elements is great, according to most gamers, and the game manages to create a tense, challenging environment without having to resort to “jump scares” and other similar tactics too much. At the same time, those who enjoy more classic horrors will also get a lot of fun out of “Resident Evil 7”.
Many gamers have been praising Capcom for the setting of the game, which fulfills the promise of taking the franchise back to its roots. Things have been a bit weird with the “Resident Evil” series lately, and Capcom had promised to go back to where it all started with the next release. And it does look like they’ve put a lot of effort into making this game reminiscent of the good old times, something that has worked out quite well according to most gamers.
The change of perspective was initially criticized by some, but it does seem to bring a fresh new angle to the game and makes things more interesting even for hardened veterans of the franchise. It’s true that first-person horrors are a bit more popular and overdone than their third-person counterparts and the game might have looked a bit more original in the latter case, but things still worked out nicely anyway.
There have been some reports of players experiencing nausea and general discomfort while playing “Resident Evil 7”, even without using VR technology, but we don’t have too much information on that front right now. It’s possible that the game is using a too low setting for its field of view, in which case the fix should be simple enough, although it might also have a negative effect on the game’s aesthetics.
After all, the field of view has a very specific impact on the way the player perceives their environment, and making it lower tends to create the impression that everything is closer and more “personal”. Conversely, that’s the ideal setting for use in genres like horror.
Still, the game is relatively new and we expect some adjustments to come out in the next few weeks. Just because it’s a single player game doesn’t mean that it can’t be improved, and Capcom is a studio that tends to value the long-term quality of their releases. We expect to see the studio paying a lot of attention to player opinions and what critics have to say, and to implement the appropriate changes soon enough.